1 The RBI has directed banks to issue chip plus PIN based credit cards instead of the magnetic strip credit cards that were used earlier.

2 A chip plus PIN card has a chip embedded in the card that holds encrypted information about the card and transactions.

3 A PIN is provided as a second measure authentication for authorising the use of the credit card.

4 When a chip-based card is used at the point of sale terminal, the terminal reads the encrypted information on the card and prompts for a PIN. The transaction processed only if the PIN is entered correctly.